Ally claims Santander stole trade secrets for Chrysler Finance job

DETROIT (Bloomberg) -- A joint venture of a Banco Santander SA unit and Chrysler Group was accused in a lawsuit by Ally Financial Inc. of violating a copyright on loan forms to avoid a $150 million accounting penalty.

Santander "elected to take a short cut rather than do the hard work that was required to develop the comprehensive, foundational auto finance platform needed to service the Chrysler dealerships and consumers on the scale contemplated by, and contracted with, Chrysler," Ally said in the complaint filed Sept. 13 in federal court in Detroit.

Ally claims that a former employee hired by Santander "took several proprietary documents when he left Ally," including the company's "Retail Procedures Manual."

Ally, the Detroit-based auto lender, is seeking to repay a U.S. bailout of $17.2 billion. Chrysler Capital, which began operating May 1, finances car and light-truck purchases and provides dealers with wholesale loans for buying vehicles from the manufacturer.

Chrysler allowed its agreement with Ally to expire at the end of April.

Michael Palese, a Chrysler Group spokesman, declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Laurie Kight, a spokeswoman for Santander Consumer USA, didn't immediately respond for a request for comment.